Prior art hockey sticks essentially comprise a handle coupled to a blade. The handle and blade may be formed integrally as a single unit, or the two may be disengagably coupled by a male/female connection. Hockey stick handles and hockey blades can be crafted from a wide variety of materials including laminated wood, plastic, aluminum, graphite, and composite materials such as fiberglass. Standard hockey blades may be either neutral or curved. Neutral hockey blades are substantially straight while curved hockey blades display a longitudinal concave curve on a forehand striking face and a corresponding longitudinal convex curve on an opposite backhand striking face. Such traditional curved hockey stick blades have been noted to enjoy added control from the forehand striking face but suffer from reduced control on the backhand striking face.
Relatively recent improvements in hockey sticks disclose hockey stick blades with longitudinal concave curves on both the forehand striking face and the backhand striking face. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,405 to Montgomery.) Other hockey stick blades have been disclosed that have bifurcated toe portions whereby both striking faces present a longitudinal concave curve. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,682 to Hughes.) These and other devices are said to improve a player's control of a hockey puck on both the forehand and backhand striking faces.
In recent years, however, hockey sports wherein the game projectile is a ball instead of a puck have become increasingly popular. Present-day street hockey is played not only on streets but also in specially constructed indoor rinks. Furthermore, the more recently developed sport of roller hockey continues to grow in popularity. Unfortunately, hockey sticks have failed to adapt to these hockey sports wherein the game projectile is spherical instead of flat and round. Furthermore, hockey sticks have not satisfactorily addressed the change in playing surface from ice to wood, pavement, or cement.
For example, the vertically flat striking faces of present day hockey sticks may be ideal for striking a flat-edged hockey puck, but they exhibit a number of disadvantages when employed to play hockey with a spherical hockey ball. One major disadvantage is exhibited when a player seeks to stop a moving ball because a hockey ball tends to roll and not to slide as does a hockey puck. As a result, hockey balls rolling along a playing surface with significant rotary kinetic energy often climb up and roll over the striking face of the hockey blade whereby the player controlling that stick is unable to stop the ball. Furthermore, players using a stick with a vertically flat striking face often find it difficult to direct a vertically bouncing ball toward the ground where it can be controlled and struck. Still further, roller hockey and street hockey players often find that hockey blades with vertically flat striking faces often wedge a ball between the ground and the stick face when a player attempts to strike the ball such as in a slap shot.
Even further still, it is often difficult for hockey players to control a hockey ball as they strike it. Hockey players certainly can wrap their hockey stick blades in fabric tape to attempt to control a hockey ball. However, doing so is problematic for a number of reasons. For example, although the high friction characteristics of the fabric tape advantageously allow a player to deaden a ball upon impact as upon receiving a pass or the like and to impart spin and control to the hockey ball when passing or the like, those same frictional characteristics disadvantageously tend to prevent a hockey ball in contact with the stick from rolling freely relative to the stick blade. With this, hockey blades employing such friction tape have a marked tendency to wedge or trap hockey balls during hockey play. Also, the friction tape tends to interfere with the smooth progress of the hockey stick blade over a playing surface. Furthermore, unlike the smooth ice surfaces on which ice hockey is played, the abrasive surfaces on which roller hockey is played tend to damage the wrapped tape rapidly thereby demanding its replacement or discouraging its use.
One fully knowledgeable in the art will be aware that certain inventors have attempted to provide a hockey stick blade that enables control of a game projectile without a need for fabric tape being wrapped around the blade. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,841, Fell describes a hockey stick blade that has a fascia attached to its surface for improving control over a game projectile. Although a number of different embodiments of the invention are disclosed, each embodiment can be seen to have a plurality of ridges disposed on its surface. The patent teaches that "the ridges temporarily `catch` or impede the progress of the puck or ball along the blade as well as up and down the blade, thus providing for increased control."
Assuming the foregoing to be true, devices embodying Fell's invention nonetheless suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the ridges on the control fascia are subject to damage during use of the hockey blade thereby diminishing the effectiveness of the invention. Furthermore, the ridges, which jut above the surface of the hockey blade, can inflict damage on a game projectile, such as a street hockey ball, thereby limiting the useful lifespan of the ball. Still further, the projecting ridges of the control fascia can cause shots with the hockey blade to be unpredictable as the precise direction of the game projectile will depend on the manner in which the game projectile strikes an upstanding ridge. Of course, this is highly undesirable when one is attempting to make an accurate pass or shot. Even further, as Fell's patent expressly indicates, the ridges, particularly the horizontally disposed ridges, can catch or impede the progress of the ball in a manner that can trap or wedge the ball thereby interrupting hockey play.
With these things in mind, it becomes clear that there remains a need in the sport for a hockey stick blade that provides for improved control over a game projectile while demonstrating durability, simplicity, and accuracy while not tending to inflict damage on a game projectile, such as a hockey ball.